2017 PS Film Festival

The 1979 kidnapping of Palm Springs socialite and philanthropist Elaine Chaddick by a gun-wielding young couple demanding $1 million ransom forms the basis of this action-packed, locally made thriller.

Schedule

film synopsis

In 1979 the 65-year-old Palm Springs socialite and philanthropist Elaine Chaddick was kidnapped at gunpoint from her home. Her captors held her hostage in a remote section of the high desert, demanding $1 million in ransom.

This harrowing true story has finally been brought to the screen by director Jorn Winther, who promised former FBI agent Herb Clough on his deathbed that he would get the movie made. Clough, who was in charge of the case, wrote the thriller that forms the basis for Winther's film, which was shot entirely on locations in and around Palm Springs, with a cast of locals who all worked without pay.

While Elaine's husband Harry, an owner of the Palm Springs Tennis Club, fields phone calls from the kidnappers, who believe his false assurances that he has not called in the police and the FBI, Elaine uses her wits to survive, talking down the young, volatile and none too bright criminals-trigger-happy Bobby Ray and his aspiring singer girlfriend Ginger-whose scheme will have deadly repercussions.